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The authors performed this study to determine the accuracy of several text classification methods to categorize wrist x-ray reports. We randomly sampled 751 textual wrist x-ray reports. Two expert reviewers rated the presence (n = 301) or absence (n = 450) of an acute fracture of wrist. We developed two information retrieval (IR) text classification methods and a machine learning method using a support vector machine (TC-1). In cross-validation on [...]

This case study examined the utility of regular expressions to identify clinical data relevant to the epidemiology of treatment of hypertension. We designed a software tool that employed regular expressions to identify and extract instances of documented blood pressure values and anti-hypertensive treatment intensification from the text of physician notes. We determined sensitivity, specificity and precision of identification of blood pressure values and anti-hypertensive treatment intensification using a gold standard [...]

Many Norwegian hospitals that are equipped with an electronic medical record (EMR) system now have proceeded to withdraw the paper-based medical record from clinical workflow. In two previous survey-based studies on the effect of removing the paper-based medical record on the work of physicians, nurses and medical secretaries, we concluded that to scan and eliminate the paper based record was feasible, but that the medical secretaries were the group that [...]

The VeriChip is a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tag produced commercially for implantation in human beings. Its proposed uses include identification of medical patients, physical access control, contactless retail payment, and even the tracing of kidnapping victims. As the authors explain, the VeriChip is vulnerable to simple, over-the-air spoofing attacks. In particular, an attacker capable of scanning a VeriChip, eavesdropping on its signal, or simply learning its serial number can create [...]

Physicians have difficulty keeping up with new evidence from medical research.

Nearly all general practice physicians (GPs) in the United Kingdom (UK) have electronic health record (EHR) systems in their practices compared with perhaps 15% of primary care physicians in the United States (U.S.). Based on interviews of 13 general GPs and review of current literature, the authors argue that the historical experience of widespread electronic health record uptake in the UK provides insight into features that might motivate broad adoption [...]

The authors used an actual-work estimate method to estimate the cost of developing a tailored interactive computer education program to improve compliance with colorectal cancer screening guidelines in a large multi-specialty group medical practice. Resource use was prospectively collected from time logs, administrative records, and a design and computing subcontract. Sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the uncertainty of the overhead cost rate and other parameters. The cost of developing [...]

The authors evaluated the retrieval power of PubMed "Clinical Queries," narrow search string, about therapy in comparison with a modified search string to avoid possible retrieval bias. PubMed search strategy was compared to a slightly modified string that included the Britannic English term "randomised." The authors tested the two strings joined onto each of four terms concerning topics of broad interest: hypertension, hepatitis, diabetes, and heart failure. In particular, precision [...]

The authors developed and evaluated a rating scale, the Attitudes toward Handheld Decision Support Software Scale (H-DSS), to assess physician attitudes about handheld decision support systems.

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) is designed to provide a common language and framework for describing health and health-related states. The goal of this research was to investigate human and automated coding of functional status information using the ICF framework.